Street Lighting

Update on LED Street Lighting

Leicestershire County Council are rolling out a program of replacing the orange sodium street lights with white LED lights. Benefits of the LED lights are:

Cheaper to run - use less power for the same illumination (as you know from LED lights in the home)

Last longer - so reduced maintenance costs

They are controllable remotely - so their brightness and the times they are on can be modified centrally

This means that some lights that were switched off overnight to save money could be left on. The whole thing should be much more flexible. There are arguments both ways about whether more lighting reduces crime or just allows criminals to see what they are doing. So it's a very local decision. Let the LCC know if you and your neighbours feel the lighting programme needs changing.

The LED lights are different from the orange/yellow sodium ones. Some people will prefer one or the other. With LED lights you don't get that orange glow in the sky at night but the light tends to be more directional. On the other hand the sodium lights also left shadowy areas where pedestrians could be invisible.

Changes to street lighting

Leicestershire County Council have changed how the street lighting works in Coleorton Parish. They have introduced a part-night lighting to some areas in the parish. This involves switching lights off some lights between midnight and 5.30 am (GMT). To report a problem go to http://www.leics.gov.uk/new_servicepagestheme.htm?pid=564 or phone theLCC customer service centre 0116 305 0001.

The Plan

The proposals for Coleorton were presented at the Parish council meeting on 13th July 2010 and there was a public consultation period ending on 13th August.

Leicestershire County Council have told us that the feedback from parishioners has led them to change the proposals in Farm Town to part-night lighting, rather than removing the lighting altogether, and various other changes have been made. The final working plan is shown in the downloadable map (pdf 3MB).

Letter from Tony Bull at LCC:

“Please find attached Leicestershire County Councils final part-night lighting proposals for the parish of Coleorton. The feedback we received from the consultation has led to some amendments being made to the original plan and these changes are listed below:

Farm Town - changed to part-night

The Moorlands/ Forrester Close junction - LC10 &11 to be left on for junction

The Angel PH, The Moor - LC38 to be left on for potential late night activity

A512 Loughborough Road - All lights to be left on due to lack of road studs and speed of road

Nottingham Road - LC21 to be left on for bend and building line marking edge of road

The work instructions will be issued shortly and the installation of the part-night cells should commence within a month. Notification signs will be installed at locations shown on the plan a week before work commences. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.”

Tony BullSenior TechnicianHighway DesignDept. of E & TLeicestershire County Council